It's Not A Date
by Shimizu-Akira
Summary: It's the summer time, and Danny and Sam find themselves going to Six Flags, this time without Tucker. As they rethink their feelings for each other, the question remains: is it a date?
1. Chapter 1

I do not own "Wake Up" by Rage Against the Machine, or the characters Batman and Danny Phantom.

---

"WAKE UP!" Danny Fenton jolted awake as the singer screamed the wake-up call into his ears. His best friend Sam Manson was standing next to the bed with a grin on her face and holding a CD player which was blasting the rock music into Danny's ears. He quickly removed the phones from his ears and sat up.

Sam grinned again and held up the CD player. "'Wake Up' by Rage Against The Machine. A personal favorite for getting up in the morning, which you should be doing right now, Sleeping Beauty."

Danny grinned sleepily and replied, "What, no kiss to break the spell?" and with that, he puckered up. Sam responded with a smack in the face with a pillow. "C'mon, Danny, get up. We have to leave now if we're going to beat the crowds for Six Flags."

Danny yawned and set his feet on the floor. "Alright." Puzzled, he then asked, "Wait, how'd you get in here?"

"Your mom let me in, she said it was time for you to get up anyway," she answered matter-of-factly while opening his closet door and browsing through his t-shirts.

"But wait, what if I was naked or something?" Danny complained.

Sam poked her head out from the closet and joked in a flirtatious voice, "Well, that was just a risk I was willing to take." She resumed her search and her tone of voice became normal again. "Yeah, well, I say the same thing whenever you phase through my window, but you never seem to care too much. Ah, here it is." She came back out holding a shirt that she'd given Danny for Christmas, a shirt that was much like the one she was wearing now. It was black except for a red, worn Batman emblem on the chest.

"Why the Batman shirt?"

"Because, we're riding the Batman ride together, remember?"

"Oh, that's right. Wait, where's Tucker? I thought you'd dragged him into this, too."

Sam hung the shirt on Danny's closet door. "I dunno. He said something suddenly came up, a baby-sitting job of some kind, something he couldn't get out of. And then he said for us two lovebirds to have a good time together."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Ugh, I'm sick of that guy playing matchmaker. I thought we'd made it clear, we're just friends."

Sam gave him a glance as he was finishing setting his bed that spoke of disappointment. She remembered calling him clueless when he'd foolishly flirted with disaster by asking out Valerie, and yet even now he was still clueless. Would he ever realize the truth, about how she really felt for him? She could sense, by looking back at memories, that he probably felt the same for her. She still secretly relished the jealousy that had blazed in his eyes for the few days that she dated "Gregor". Her glance became a spell as she began to get lost in his dazzling blue eyes...

"Hey, uh, Sam, would you mind waiting downstairs while I change?" The suddenness of his voice snapped her back to reality. She blinked her eyes. "Uh, yeah. Sure. Just hurry up, will you? We need a head start on the traffic." Sam finally shut the door to his bedroom, but not before catching a peek of his somewhat muscular back as he was pulling off his night shirt. Sam allowed a school girl grin to form on her face. Apparently, an entire year of ghost fighting had done some good for him.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own music by The Birthday Massacre, nor do I own the characters Superman, Batman, or Danny Phantom.

---

Danny and Sam were now on their way to Six Flags, being driven by one of the Manson family's chauffeurs. Right before they left Danny's home, they had to remind Danny's parents where they were going. Maddy was in the kitchen while Jack was in the lab downstairs.

"So, who all's going?" Maddy asked while putting away dishes. (In spite of her husband's shared fascination with ghosts, Maddy still knew how to be a homemaker)

Danny sheepishly answered, "Um, just the two of us."

"So it's a date?" Maddy excitedly exclaimed. Jack heard her, because he shouted up, "I told you it was just a matter of time!"

Sam only blushed, but Danny exploded, "IT'S NOT A DATE!" Jack shouted back, "He's in denial, don't listen to him!"

Danny rolled his eyes as he looked back on the short debate between him and his parents on the grounds of whether today's excursion qualified as a date, a debate which ended with Sam dragging a blushing, shouting Danny out the door before the traffic could get bad.

Right now, Sam and Danny were kicking back in the back seat as the chauffeur played by request various rock CDs. At the moment, they were listening to Niksin Central, but were also discussing their musical tastes.

"What about Spyplane? You can't deny the power of some of their stuff."

Sam wrinkled her nose. "I don't know about their lead singer Tray, though."

"What's wrong with Tray?"

"His voice bugs me."

Danny chuckled and shook his head. "Alright, if you say so."

"I will tell you one thing, whenever I have kids, I will raise them on Metalheads from the age of three."

Danny felt a shudder go through him when he heard the words "whenever I have kids" pass through Sam's lips. It bothered him, and he wasn't too sure why. Sam was a girl, soon she'd be a full-grown woman, and, well, that's what women did, they gave birth. Doing this, however, would mean that Sam would have to had, well, done _something_ with a guy, something special and intimate. It bothered Danny for some reason that he'd probably not be that guy.

Over the summer, since he never ran into them as much as he had at school, Danny managed to let go somewhat of his crushes on Paulina and Valerie. Instead, he'd spent more time with Sam and Tucker, mainly Sam because Tucker's parents usually found summer chores to keep him busy. And all this time that Danny had alone with Sam, it began to hit him how cute some of her mannerisms were, how some of her clothing brought out her feminine curves rather nicely, and simply how beautiful she could be even when she didn't mean to. But most of all, Danny noticed just…well, how well the two connected. Another observation was that Danny felt more strongly for Sam as a friend than for Tucker, and Tucker was his best bud. Sam had been his first and only female friend thus far, and that was one of the reasons why he'd valued their friendship. She wasn't like other girls. Unlike Paulina, who seemed so far away, Danny could actually have deep and personal conversations with Sam. What they had was definitely special.

Sometimes, though, he would have liked for their friendship to be more, but at the same time he enjoyed what they had now. As far as Danny could observe, Sam preferred friendship over relationship. It was indeed a tough one in Danny's mind…

"Hey Danny! The CD's done, what would you like to listen to next?"

Danny had been once again awoken by Sam, this time from his thoughts. "Uh," he wondered aloud, blinking his eyes, "whatever you want."

Sam's face lit up. "Great, I've been meaning to show you this group for a while now, they're called The Birthday Massacre." She pulled a CD from her CD wallet and passed it to the chauffeur. "Thanks, Jerry."

Just then, something caught Danny's eye. "Say, Sam, did you dye your hair?"

Sam turned around and smiled with a small blush. "Uh, yeah, I thought I'd throw in a little pink into my hair. It ended up turning out red, though. Do you like it?" Her hair indeed had some reddish streaks throughout its raven color.

Danny smiled. "Yeah, I do actually. I think it looks great on you, especially with your violet eyes." So captivated was he in admiring this latest improvement to her beauty, though, that he didn't realize that he was still staring at Sam with a smile frozen on his face.

Sam began to get uneasy. "Uh, Danny, could you snap out of it? You're freaking me out here."

Danny came to, yet again. "Oh, yeah! Sorry." For a moment this was followed by blushing faces and an awkward silence, save for the music.

"So, uh, who is this again, Sam?"

"The, um, Birthday Massacre."

"Oh, well, they're pretty good. It has that Goth sound, but then I guess that that's why you listen to them."

"Pretty much."

Again, silence ensued.

Danny broke the silence again by asking, "Say, do you have a map of the park with you?"

"Nope, sorry. We'll have to wait 'till we get there to get one."

Alright, it seemed that the awkwardness was starting to wear off. Hopefully, even though Tucker wasn't here to break up the awkwardness, Danny and Sam would still be able to get through the day and have a good time together.

Sam grinned. "I don't need a map to decide what I'm going to ride."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Like what?"

Sam began counting on her fingers. "Well, there's the Batman, the Ninja, Thunder River, Superman-"

"Who can totally kick Batman's butt!" Danny interjected with a pretend-superior sneer in his voice. This earned him a semi-serious glare from Sam, who was about to make a retort to this before Jerry the chauffeur interrupted with, "We'll be coming upon the exit for the park soon, just so you two know."

"Awesome!" Sam exclaimed. "You ready, Danny?"

"Oh, uh, sure. Yeah, I'm ready," Danny answered. He hadn't told her something that he'd been meaning to say a while ago…


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own the characters Batman or Danny Phantom.

---

"You cannot possibly be serious, Danny!" Sam complained, exasperated. Danny shuffled his feet on the ground guiltily, not really looking up. "Why didn't you tell me that you were afraid of roller coasters?"

"Well, I did, but it was around when we first met."

"It doesn't matter, because you're going to ride them with me," Sam declared, putting her hands on her hips.

Danny groaned. "C'mon, Sam, these things give me nightmares, ever since I was six."

"Oh, but battling ghosts doesn't?"

"Sam, I was SIX! I didn't have powers, and I was impressionable at the time."

Sam pulled at his hand as she started walking again. "What happened to you, did the ride try to eat you?" she joked.

Danny allowed himself to be pulled. "No, my dad took me on a ride that went upside down, and it got stuck. We had to wait two hours to get rescued."

"This, coming from a guy who doesn't need a car to go on a joyride?" Sam laughed. She straightened her tone, though, and added, "Look, just consider this an opportunity to take charge of your fear."

"Oh, alright," Danny agreed, although he could feel a well of fear rise up within him, or was that just his breakfast from Nasty Burger? Either way, Danny swallowed hard and prayed for courage to come.

Soon, he found himself and Sam passing through the entrance to Gotham City. Before long, they were in line for Batman the Ride.

Danny could feel his heart beating through his chest. He was not ready for this. He turned to Sam suddenly and whimpered, "I can't do this. You just go on, and I'll wait for you."

Sam flashed an evil grin. "Nope, sorry. You're stuck with me on this." She relaxed her grin a bit. "Look, if you get especially freaked out, then just, um, squeeze my hand."

Danny shot her a bewildered look. "But I thought that we were, you know, just friends. Holding hands tends to fall under the dating category."

"Have you not heard of the word 'platonic'?" Sam replied.

"Oh, right," Danny said with a nod. Well, he had to look on the bright side. This ride would probably last about only, what, a minute? And it was very rare that accidents happened on these, statistically speaking. (At least, that's what he wanted to tell himself) Not only that, but he would also get to hold hands with a beautiful—wait, scratch that. Danny wanted to avoid repeating the awkward scene with Sam from earlier. But wait, what about all of those blush-y moments that they'd had in the past; couldn't that mean that there was a possibility that she felt the same for him? No, Danny had to push that to the back of his mind for now, he didn't have the time for it at the moment.

It was finally time to get on the ride. Music from the various Batman films was booming through speakers all around.

Sam grabbed Danny's hand and rushed for the front car. Danny didn't like this.

"Wait, Sam. Sam, wait! This isn't necessary!" he protested as Sam buckled herself in next to where he was standing. He sighed and sat in the seat next to her and pulled the harness down over himself.

"Danny, if you're going to beat this thing, then you're going to have to take it head-on."

An attendant came by and checked that their harnesses were in place.

Danny got desperate. "Say, buddy, any chance you could, uh, spring me loose here?" The attendant glanced at Sam, who vigorously shook her head. He gave a half-laugh.

"Sorry, dude, you're on your own."

Danny scowled as the attendant walked away. "Thanks a lot, pal!" At that moment, the ride shook to a start and began heading slowly for the opening slope on the track.

"Aw, man, I hate this part," Danny whimpered. Sam reached over and slipped her fingers tightly between his. She smiled. "You'll be alright, Danny." It was a sweet, simple smile, it was just one of the many things that made Sam so beautiful…

This short trip into fantasyland was interrupted by Danny's screaming as the car tilted downward to the left and suddenly shrieked towards the ground. Sam was screaming too, but out of enjoyment; Danny, on the other hand, was not enjoying it. He was high up, and then down, and then up again. It was all so fast it—wait, he did enjoy this! It was like flying, only with a harness.

He didn't notice, but his and Sam's hands were still locked together.

For the next few seconds, it was rush after rush, and the hand-holding still went unnoticed. Then, just as it had started, the ride suddenly came to an abrupt halt back in the loading area. Danny and Sam were both breathing hard and laughing.

"Holy crap, that was awesome!" Danny exclaimed. Sam laughed, "Well, that's a huge change! I'm glad to hear it!"

"Do mine eyes deceive me? I do believe I see Fentonia has hooked up with Horror Show finally!" The voice speaking this belonged to a jock at Casper High infamous to both Danny and Sam, a jock by the name of Dash Baxter. He was in line for their car.

It was upon hearing this that Danny and Sam noticed that their hands were still intertwined. They both blushed and quickly let go of each other's hands, as was customary.

Dash was grinning wickedly, waiting for Danny to scream his usual denial. Instead, Danny smiled coolly and shot back, "So what if we are going out, Dash? How about that?" He was still smiling as his and Sam's harnesses lifted up. He then took off for the exit and pulled along Sam by the hand. Dash simply rolled his eyes as he sat down. "Freaks."


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own the characters Batman or Danny Phantom.

---

Danny and Sam ended up in a garden-like area outside the exit. Danny was laughing, but Sam had a mixed look of shock and joy plastered on her face. Danny turned around to Sam, and his smile became a puzzled look. "Say, Sam, you know that I was messing around with Dash back there, right?"

The mixed look on Sam's face melted lightly into disappointment. She managed to replace it with a slight smile, however, and replied, "Oh, yeah, I knew it."

It was funny; they'd had a similar experience, only reversed, with their first Fake-Out Make-Out. During that, Sam was holding a rather surprised Danny down with her lips locked against his in order to hide his identity as Danny Phantom as Valerie was coming by in her ghost hunter gear. When Sam finally let go of Danny, she'd noticed a glazed look of contentment on his face, and out of uneasiness tried to make it look to him like the kiss meant nothing. At the same time, she'd denied that deep down inside she'd really enjoyed it too. It was indeed a role reversal here.

Sam had realized a while back that she wanted something more with Danny, but could tell that he simply wanted to be friends. Oh, how'd she'd always become envious of Valerie and Paulina every time Danny drooled over either one of them; it was like her heart being ripped out over and over. It was during times like that in which Sam relished their Fake-Out Make-Outs, not that they had had many.

"Hey, Sam, check this out," Danny said with a laugh. Yet again, dreamland dissipated as Sam looked at what Danny was pointing to. It was a special area that took photos of park visitors posing in period-style clothing. The time periods available were Old West, Civil War, and 'Twenties and 'Thirties Gangster.

Sam liked it, and had an idea. "C'mon, Danny, let's check it out." With that, she grabbed his hand and made a beeline for the building where the photos were done. Danny had some uncertainty, but went without complaint.

Danny looked at the pricing for each type of package. "Gee, Sam, I dunno, it seems a bit pricey," he remarked.

Sam smiled and waved around a credit card. "You forget that I'm rich." Danny nodded. "Ah, true."

An employee came to the desk and cheerfully asked what type of photo they wanted. Before Danny could speak up, Sam answered, "We'll do the Gangster setting, in a sepia filter." Clearly, Sam knew what she wanted.

The employee wrote all of this down and then invited the pair to step behind the desk to get dressed in their costumes.

Sam disappeared behind a curtain to for her costume. Meanwhile, Danny was assisted by a young employee, about his age, in searching for his own costume. The employee went through the racks searching for a shirt and jacket for Danny.

"Yo, man, your girlfriend's pretty fine lookin'. You're lucky, you know," the employee said while fitting the shirt on Danny and tying it in the back.

Danny arched his eyebrow while adjusting his Batman tee. "Um, thanks, I think, but we're not going out."

"Oh, f'real? Why not, you two related or somethin'?" the employee asked with surprise.

"No, no," Danny denied, rapidly shaking his head. "We're just really, well, really good friends."

The employee grinned. "A'ight, then you won't mind if I make a move on her, will you, man?"

Danny turned around and shot him a glare upon hearing this. The employee gave a short laugh and, finding some pants for Danny, responded, "Well, if you don't make a move soon, she's gonna get snatched up, son. Just don't say I didn't tell you so."

Danny regarded this with an uneasy nod as he pulled up the costume pants over his own. Why had he reacted in such a jealous manner just now? Was he just being protective over his best friend, or was he acting upon something larger? Danny remembered back to when Sam had dated "Gregor" for a few days. The kiss shared between Sam and her would-be boyfriend still tore at Danny's heart, just like when Sam had kissed Dash at the Ember concert a while back to break Danny out of his love spell over Sam. So, Danny tried to ask himself, did he _really_ care for Sam as more than a friend? Did he indeed have a crush on his best friend…

"Yo, you're lookin' pretty pimp there, man," the employee noted in a tone of admiration. His thought process interrupted, Danny looked at his reflection in a nearby mirror. He didn't look too bad; the costume actually did look pretty good on him.

"That costume's an improvement, you know." Danny grinned upon hearing this bit of witty sarcasm from Sam. He turned around, ready to say something back, but the words never left his lips. His mouth dropped as he stared at Sam as she came out of the dressing room.

Sam was dressed in quite a flattering piece of nineteen-twenties attire. The dress was black with a lace trim, which suited Sam quite well. The chest area was cut pretty low, and was also pretty tight, which accentuated Sam's bust quite well…

Sam blushed upon noticing Danny gawking at her. She felt her jealousy toward Valerie and Paulina temporarily satisfied, relishing the moment.

The cheery employee that had signed them in now ushered the two over to the Gangster background. She reached into a nearby barrel and pulled out a handgun, and handed it to Danny. He grinned like a ten-year-old as he brandished the weapon.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Boys and their guns." Her eyes grew big, though, as the attendant handed her a Tommy gun. Danny's face fell when he saw the large machine gun in Sam's hands. "Wait a minute," he protested, "she gets a bigger gun than me?"

"We women need to protect ourselves, right?" Sam said to the attendant, who was setting up the camera. She nodded and replied, "That's right, you can never be too careful." Danny was the one to roll his eyes this time. "Women."

The attendant walked over to arrange them for the photo. Sam noticed another barrel, and pulled out a twenties-style hat and mink covering. Danny, likewise, pulled out a hat for himself.

The background consisted of a dirty brick wall with writings etched on it like "Louie Marone is a rat". Extending from the edge of the set was the back of a car from the era.

The attendant had Sam lean against the car with one foot resting on the bumper. Danny was placed standing straight up behind her. Both looked toward the camera with their guns held with one hand. Danny looked forward with smugness, while Sam held a flirty smile.

The attendant got behind the camera and smiled when she saw Danny and Sam. "Don't you two just look cute together. Now get closer, that's it." Blushed of red filled Danny and Sam's frozen faces, but they still held their poses.

The attendant snapped a few pictures of that pose, and then shot some individual pictures. Sam and Danny began to relax from all of the stiff posing when the attendant suggested, "Now, let's get a shot of you two closer together." Danny and Sam both exchanged uneasy looks with each other.

Danny spoke up. "Uh, really? Are you, um, quite sure that that's necessary?" The attendant chuckled light-heartedly when she saw his horror-stricken face. "But you two look so adorable together!"

Unbeknownst to Danny, Sam barely stifled a smirk. She liked getting compliments like this centered toward her and Danny together. She only wished that they were really together.

Danny felt quite uncomfortable for Sam right now. He knew that she only liked him as a friend. High school friendships could get so complicated, especially when it came to having crushes on people. Danny already knew that Sam didn't have feelings for him, but did he have feelings for her? During the day so far, the idea had been tossing and turning in his mind. It had been on his mind a lot lately, actually. Again he found himself returning to this subject, but why?

"Hello, Danny, are we going to take the picture or what?" Sam waved a hand over Danny's spaced out eyes, causing him to blink. He had to quit getting distracted like that.

The pair hesitated, and then got closer together, as though it were a photo for Homecoming. They put on their best fake smiles, like they were really enjoying this. In spite of this sarcastic façade, however, deep down, they both were enjoying it, although Danny was having trouble admitting it to himself. What about Valerie? He still harbored some feelings for her, and because of that felt an obligation toward her. Besides, everyone was aware of his feelings for Valerie and he felt inclined for some reason to live up to this pseudo-standard.

The attendant moved in to position Danny and Sam to her liking. She brought them facing the camera diagonally with Sam in front, which was only natural since Danny was slightly taller. Danny's left hand was placed in front around Sam's waistline, while his right hand confidently clutched his handgun. Sam was made to simply put her hands around Danny's left hand.

"Alright," the attendant said as she stepped behind the camera again, "let's smile nice and big. That's it. Now hold it and say cheese!" Flash!


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own the character Danny Phantom.

---

"I don't think that these pictures came out bad at all," Sam said as she held the photos over their protective envelope. They were now outside again walking through the park.

Danny gave an uneasy look as she shifted to the photo of them closer together. "Did we really have to keep that one, though?"

Sam laughed this off. "Oh, Danny, chill out, it's just a photo, it's nothing major. It's not like we're engaged or anything."

Danny smiled, and suddenly got down on one knee in front of Sam. "Oh, Sam Manson," he asked in an exaggerated, melodramatic voice, "will you do me the honor of becoming Sam Fenton?"

A mixed look of surprise and happiness took a hold of Sam's face. She took him by the hand and pulled him back up on his feet. "_Danny_," she hissed under her breath, looking around at some of the gawking passersby, trying to feign anger but being betrayed by her smile. She then broke down into a laugh and buried her face into Danny's shoulder. "Oh, Danny, you have such a great sense of humor, that's why I love you."

Sam suddenly stopped, as did Danny, since she was still holding onto his arm. She had a look of horror frozen on her face as she turned to face him again. "Um, as a friend, like a brother, of course. You know what I mean, right?"

Danny smiled and nodded. "Don't worry, I get what you mean."

Both teens breathed a mental sigh of relief as this scene of awkwardness closed. Boy, Sam thought, that was close.

A tiny ray of hope shown in Danny's mind. He had been so sure that Sam regarded him merely as a friend. The look on Sam's face began to dissipate that belief. He let a small smile form on his face. This was getting to be a good day.

Sam stopped again and pointed. "Hey, look, it's the Amity Horror House."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Why not Amity_ville_?"

Sam shrugged. "I dunno, probably since we're close to Amity Park, and they don't want to be confused with the horror movie of the same name. Who knows?"

Danny started walking toward the fake mansion. "C'mon, let's ride it."

Sam didn't budge. "Uh, let's not and say we did," she said with a tone of discomfort.

Danny turned around, confused. "Why not? I thought you'd want to go on this ride, being that you're a Goth and all."

Sam still held her place. "Yeah, but, uh, I kind of draw the line at haunted house rides."

"Sam, you can't be serious. It's all animatronics monsters and plastic severed heads that you'll see in there." Danny could not believe what was going on here. Normally, Sam would be dragging Danny into the haunted mansion, just as she had with the roller coaster earlier.

Sam couldn't believe the role reversal that was going on now, second to the one that went on with Dash earlier. Danny was even quoting Sam from earlier. She normally loved rides, but her past kept her from this one.

"Come on, Sam, what could be so bad about this ride?"

Sam felt like a cornered animal. "It-it was a long time ago, you wouldn't understand."

Danny burst out laughing. "Don't tell me you got stuck on a ride at age six!"

She was found out. "It was age four, and the ride didn't stop!" she lashed out defensively. "There was an old mechanical witch, and her head popped off and landed right in my lap!"

Danny couldn't stop from laughing for about a minute. His laughter finally died down as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "Alright, that's it; we're going on it right now!"

Sam's face fell. "Oh, no, no, please Danny, you can't—"

"Today is a day for conquering fears, so your's is next up," Danny interrupted. He was the one to grab the other's hand this time and head for the ride's entrance.

She started to protest again, but he turned around and reassured here, "Don't worry, I will not let ANYthing bad happen to you, I promise." Sam stopped struggling and stared at him. There was something final and reassuring in both his tone and his eyes, his beautiful, clear blue eyes.

Sam immediately found herself pulled into a car that pulled up next to their spot in line. As soon as she and Danny were settled, the car started moving and pushed through the black curtain up ahead.

Sam could instantly feel her teeth chattering. This definitely set her down memory lane, and a bad one. It was like that fateful day eleven years ago were happening again right now…

Danny could notice that his companion was already not taking to this ride well. He could try what she did with him earlier and hold her hand, but he didn't want to risk getting hit, either now or later depending on the grip of her fear. No, but he could still say something.

"Say, Sam, if this ride gets too much, then you can always, uh—" He was momentarily interrupted as a rotting wax zombie popped up out of the shadows in front of them. Danny didn't need to finish his sentence, as Sam squealed with fright and wrapped her arms around Danny. What was funny was that she didn't pull away and pretend it didn't happen as she had in the past; she was too occupied with the terror at the present moment.

Before Danny could further reflect on this, though, a blue mist escaped from his lips. Sam, her head being right below Danny's chin, felt the chill from the mist and let go to look at him.

"Great, my ghost sense is going off today, just what I need," Danny murmured sarcastically. He then whispered his catch phrase, "I'm going ghost!" and with that two powerfully bright rings of light separated at his waist and spanned his height, revealing a new Danny with white hair, glowing green eyes, and a black and white jumpsuit.

"Danny, please don't leave me—" Sam began to whimper, but Danny turned to her and gave the same powerful look that he had given her outside. "Sam, I gave you my word. I won't let anything happen to you." Having said that, he phased forward out of the car. Sam, though still shaken, felt some warmth go through her system as Danny's words sunk in. Still, it was going to be a long ride…

Great! Danny was having a great day with Sam, and now he had to leave her just so he could battle some bitter old spirit. Just great.

He quickly scanned the ride ahead for any sign of a ghost. There was nothing but a plastic spider web, a ketchup-stained door, and a werewolf with glowing green eyes-wait, that glow coming from its eyes didn't look electronic. It looked like the werewolf was already beginning to carry out its ghostly master's bidding, as it was tearing its wire spitting feet off of its base. He straight for the beast, thinking he had his enemy locked on, when a loud and creepy female voice filled the hall:

"How dare you insult my spirit by bringing your so-called love here!"

Uh-oh, that didn't sound like it came from the werewolf, it sounded more like it was all around them. This would probably take a while.

"Where are you?" Danny shouted out loud, although he knew that he could probably expect an answer that he wouldn't like.

Without warning, something reached from behind him and, holding his arms back tightly, tried to force Danny down onto the track. Using his leg strength, Danny kicked off from the ground and bounded straight up for the ceiling with his attacker's back facing the ceiling. He soon felt the impact through the attacker's body, as well as the attacker temporarily relinquishing its grip. Not taking any chances, Danny turned intangible and phased through the attacker's arms.

He flew down and landed on the front of his and Sam's car, before looking up to finally face his opponent. It was a mechanical vampire and its crackling, buzzing body had now fallen onto the track behind the car. As if nothing had happened, though, the mechanical monster got back up and started stalking toward their car. Danny put his hands together and fired a powerful ghost energy beam which took off the robot's head. The body, however, continued walking before being blasted to pieces by beam after beam.

Danny panted, exhausted but proud of himself. "Whew, that's over, but I can't help but think that I'm forgetting something—" A growl caused him to turn around and face the front of the car. Sam was frozen in unspeakable horror now more than ever. It was the mechanical werewolf! Apparently, the owner of the voice was possessing all of these robots.

Danny straightened himself and flew head-on for the werewolf, while bracing for the pain of his soft body meeting the hard, solid body of the machine. Instead, he phased through the werewolf and pushed further back the ghostly form of a girl. She flew back and landed a far distance ahead on the track. She almost looked entirely human, except for the deathly pale tinge of her skin and the ghostly glow around her shape. As for her attire, she had the appearance of a Goth. She had on long, baggy black pants and a tight black sleeveless shirt with a skull on the front. Here long, black hair hung all around her sad face, but could not hide the anger emanating from her glowing eyes.

Seeing that the now-dead robot was in the way of the moving car, Danny used the best of his strength and thrust it to the side. He now faced the ghostly girl again.

"Just who are you, and what do you want?" the ghost boy demanded.

"My name is Aurey, and I was disturbed by your shows of affection with your girlfriend there. Day after day, I watched couples ride through here, 'enjoying' themselves, always being reminded of what I was flatly denied so long ago and now shall never have." A mixture of sadness and hate blazed in her ghostly eyes.

"That's no reason to attack innocent people like her!" Danny motioned toward Sam's quivering, fear-struck form.

"Why should anyone share in the fruits of love that I will never taste?" Aurey roared before shooting a beam at the disabled werewolf. A ghostly green returned to its eyes, and the robot righted itself and headed for Danny and Sam's car again.

Aurey gave an evil grin beneath her hair and sent another beam at a robotic three-foot spider. That headed for Danny. It reached out and pressed his arms tightly to his sides. The spider then pulled him away from the car and farther ahead up the track.

The spider forced him face-first onto the tracks with car barreling for him. Danny tried to become intangible and slip away like he had with the vampire, but he couldn't change form.

"Why can't I go intangible?" he cried out, frustrated. A still-grinning Aurey crouched down near him.

"Because I know now only how to possess robots, but I've also learned how to take control of other ghosts, including you!"

Danny turned his head and looked toward the car. It looked like the werewolf was pushing it faster along the track. Meanwhile, the creepy mechanical spider still held him down tightly while Aurey hovered over him with a wicked smile fixed on her pale face. This day could not get any worse!


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own the character Danny Phantom.

---

Danny assessed the situation. The werewolf and the spider were both under control, as well as him somehow. He also observed some kind of outside presence in his mind that he couldn't identify. That had to be Aurey controlling him. That, and the way that he had been able to push Aurey out of the werewolf, gave him an idea.

Summoning all of his strength and lung power, Danny released a large ghostly wail, sending shockwaves as far as he could. Aurey grimaced and fell back. Then, to his delight, the spider loosened its grip and became lifeless. Likewise, he could hear the squealing from the car being forced to move faster cease.

Not wasting an opportunity he went intangible and flew far away from the spider and more toward Aurey. She got to her feet and flashed her glaring eyes. Danny flew straight at her and landed a kick at her chin. She fell back again, giving Danny an opportunity to give a bit of witty banter. "I don't normally hit girls, but with you I'll make an exception."

Aurey got back up, even angrier than before. With a screech, she swept through the air and carried Danny farther up the track, closer to the end of the ride. Once again, she held him down over the tracks with the car coming for his head.

"Your girlfriend will have the pleasure of watching as she runs over you and takes off your pretty head," she said with fiendish glee. "It's a shame, you're actually kinda hot, and I would've loved to have kept you around a little longer, but I don't think that it would have worked out, babe."

Danny tried to release another ghostly wail, but Aurey pressed her cold, pale hand over his mouth. "Ah ah, no more of that from you." Danny tried as hard as he could to release it through her hands, but something more than her hands kept the wail from escaping. And of course, he couldn't go intangible. This was probably the end for him. He clenched his eyes shut as the car came closer, waiting for the pain. All he could think of now was that he had never said anything to Sam earlier about his feelings, and now he never would…

Just then, he felt Aurey's hand come off his mouth, after which he sat up. He got up in time to see the ghost get pulled and sucked into a Fenton thermos, which was in the grip of a cold-faced Sam. Danny couldn't help but smile wildly. All he wanted was to rush over to her and hug her and kiss her, and tell her the truth that he should have told her a while ago…

"Danny?" Sam's voice was filled with fear tempered with impatience. "Are you going to keep floating there like an idiot, or are you going to get back and finish this ride with me?"

Danny only continued smiling as he phased back into his human self and let himself fall down next to his frightened friend. He was going to enjoy the rest of the day, he knew it.

Sam and Danny exited the haunted attraction together as employees and technicians rushed inside. Danny had made a mess, but it was their's to deal with now. Besides, he wasn't leaving Sam's side now.

Sam wasn't saying anything, she simply walked close with Danny holding onto his arm and clasping his hand. A blank look rested on her face as she remained silent. Danny was fine with that for now, as well as the hand holding.

Finally, Sam broke the silence with a small but beautiful tone of voice. "Danny…thank you for keeping your promise to me back there. You were a real friend for me, doing that, and that means a lot to me."

Danny gave a slight shrug. "You're one of my closest friends, Sam. I would never let you down like that."

The two walked in silence at a slow pace. They passed attraction after attraction, but chose nothing. As they continued walking, Sam rested her head against Danny's shoulder. He glanced over in surprise. This definitely _was_ a good day for him.

In spite of the shifting feelings going on in his head today, his near-miss with death earlier (ignoring the pun, of course) had instantly put things in perspective. He knew it now. Forget Paulina. Forget Valerie even, for that matter. Sam was the only one that stood out in his mind now.

Keeping her head rested on Danny's arm still, Sam broke the silence again. "Danny, would you mind if we left early?"

Danny looked down at her. "Not at all. I've had more than enough excitement for one day myself."

"Great," Sam responded. She pulled her cell phone out of her purse and dialed a number. "Yeah, Jerry? We're ready to leave now. Okay, we'll meet you at the gate in a few."

They shifted direction slightly and took the sidewalk path that led to the gate. Danny thought for a second, and then asked, "So, Sam, what do you want to do now?"

Without looking up, Sam answered, "You want to watch a movie at my house?"

"Sure." That sounded like a good plan to him. He just hoped that she wouldn't invite Tucker along, he craved more of the time that he had been able to spend alone with her.

"And what say we leave Tucker out of the picture just for tonight?" Sam suggested.

Danny couldn't help but grin again. "You read my mind." Yeah, this was a good day.


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own the character Danny Phantom.

---

Danny and Sam were now safe in the home movie theater of Sam's mansion with the day's exploits far behind them. A box of Checker's pizza lay open in a chair next to the pair. "Danny Bleako" was just about reaching the end as it played on the giant screen before them.

Danny could not be happier. He had a full stomach, he'd conquered his fear of roller coasters, and now Sam had fallen asleep with her head resting on his chest. He realized that he was in a rather opportune position at the moment, and he wasn't thinking in perverted terms.

Sam was passed out now. She probably wouldn't take notice if he gave her a quick peck on the lips, or smelled her hair. She definitely wouldn't be able to know that he was savoring every moment of being with her today, especially now.

As he was debating with himself, the movie finally ended and the credits began rolling. As if on cue, Sam slowly shifted and sleepily opened her eyes. "Movie over already?"

Danny looked down on her and smiled. "It's about time you woke up, Sleeping Beauty." Did it even occur to her that he meant that name literally?

Sam smiled and quoted him from when she'd woken him up that morning. "What, no kiss to break the spell?"

What happened next surprised not only her, but Danny as well. He brought his face down and gently kissed her on her beautiful lips.

Surprise spilled onto the faces of both teenagers. Sam sat up and gawked at Danny. Danny couldn't believe that he'd let his feelings overcome his common sense. Sam had never imagined that this moment would actually come. One thing was sure in both their minds, this was no fake-out make-out.

"Um, Danny," Sam ventured, "what was that for?" Not that I'm complaining, she thought to herself.

"I, uh," Danny stumbled, "I don't really know. I guess I was trying to surprise you." In his mind, he persecuted himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could he let that happen? Their friendship would probably never be the same again.

He took a step back mentally and thought about this real quick. Since he'd probably lost Sam and her friendship with that maneuver, he might as well go out on a limb; in his eyes, he had nothing to lose. He'd share how he really felt. Who knows, there was the faint possibility that maybe she felt the same somehow.

"Sam, uh, before you say anything further, let me just explain myself. You see, I did that because I've been rethinking our friendship, and how I feel towards you. Now, I'll understand if you don't feel the same-"

He never got the chance to finish. He was smothered as Sam threw herself at him and pressed her lips against his. It was a passionate kiss, a thousand times better than the fake-out make-outs, but one thing was for sure for Danny: this was so much better with Sam rather than Paulina or Valerie, ever.

Sam pulled away with closed eyes and a smile on her face. "Shut up and kiss me, Fenton."

Danny brought his lips to hers again, and then wondered out loud, "Then today would count as a date, right?"

Sam smiled again and kissed him, giving him an answer. _Yes._

END


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